The Fire We Harbour
by hmmga
Summary: The Doctor Duplicate has lived 16 years in domestic bliss. But his youngest child was born a Time Lord and he knows he cannot keep him forever. When his son regenerates he must send him across the void, but James has inherited his old knack for trouble...
1. Chapter 1

**An Introduction to the family:**

**Alastair Steven Chesterton (The metacrisis Doctor)**

**Rose Marion Chesterton (N****ée**** Tyler)**

**Sarah Zoe Chesterton (14) **

**Benjamin Michael Chesterton (13) **

**James Adric Vislor Chesterton (10) **

**DISCLAIMER: I once tried to persuade the Doctor to land his TARDIS in my garden, but he said he works for the BBC.**

**Chapter 1 – Pack Animals**

"_Good morning ladies and gentleman, and welcome to another day here on planet Earth! It's eight o'clock, and the sun is shining over…"_

"Sarah Zoë Chesterton, you are _going_ to miss the bus!"

"I can't find my PE kit!"

"Just get out the door! Ben, your father's waiting!"

"I don't wanna go to the dentists!"

"Oh for god's sake just _go_! He'll drop you off at school afterwards. Jamie! Jamie? Where are you?"

James Adric Vislor Chesterton dragged himself down the stairs. He hated mornings, with all the noise and fuss, and he hated the days that followed, stuck in a class room learning drivel. He reached the bottom of the stairs and pulled his blazer on dejectedly. Why was life so _slow_?

"Oh come on Cub, you're going to be late!"

His mother smiled when she saw him. It was the smile he detested, the _I know you hate it but you still have to go_ smile. It was the smile she wore when she thought she understood. She knew nothing, but he smiled half-heartedly back anyway. It wouldn't do to disobey the mother wolf.

_It had started when he was very small, before his body had learned how to walk. Now it was a running joke in the family, that they were the wolf pack. James had an eidetic memory that went right back to when he was just a baby, and he could remember his father telling him the story as though it had been yesterday._

"…_And then your mother looked into the heart of the TARDIS, and she took all of time into her head. And that is when she became the Big Bad Wolf."_

"_The Big Bad Wolf?" whispered Benjamin, spellbound._

"_That's right. Be careful or she might bite your head off."_

"_Oi! I heard that!" called their mother from the kitchen. _

_Sarah giggled. "But if Mummy's a wolf aren't we ones too?"_

"_Oh yes," said their father. "She's the Mummy wolf, and we're her pack."_

"_Daddy wolf," said Sarah, pointing to her father. "Boy wolf, girl wolf, and…"_

"_Cub?" suggested their mother. They all laughed, except James. He hadn't learned how to laugh yet._

"_Little Cub," said Sarah bossily. "It fits."_

_The girl and boy wolf nicknames faded within a few weeks. Unfortunately, Cub had stuck._

_But James knew there was more to it than silly nicknames. The story was true, and all three of them carried a part of the wolf within them. In Sarah, it manifested as… _tenacity_, but James preferred to think she was just bossy. Then there was Benjamin, who was the creative one. And then there was James…_

**-DW-**

Rose watched her son disappear into the school grounds looking particularly forlorn in his grey school uniform, his blonde hair shining in the morning sun. She sat for a moment, resting her chin on the steering wheel. James was a bit of an enigma within their family. He was just as intelligent as his older siblings, but lacked the outgoing nature of any of the others.

_When James was born, he didn't cry. Not a squeak, or a mewl, not even a whimper. He lay there; blue and shivering, big blue eyes (God knows where he got _them _from) darting around the room. The doctors were huddled around him, checking his airways. Perfectly clear. Then they hooked him up to some machines, and Rose thought the world had ended. All movement in the room stopped as every eye turned to the screen. Her husband Alastair stared, his expression a mix of amazement and horror._

"_He has two hearts," he whispered to Rose. He started forwards, and swept his son out of the plastic cot. He put an ear to the baby's chest. "Binary vascular system. Core body temperature… difficult to tell, we need to wait for him to settle a bit."_

_He set the boy back down, and badgered the medics to leave him alone, promising to call his private doctor as soon as possible. _

_It wasn't until hours later that they were finally alone._

"_Al?" began Rose, struggling to stay awake. "What – is he a…"_

"_I don't know, Rose, I really don't," said Alastair. "I never expected any of our children to inherit anything from, from _him_. This is completely unexpected. His temperature seems to have settled at fifteen degrees Celsius, normal for his physiology. If we're lucky that's all he'll have…"_

"_And if we're not?"_

_He didn't answer her. She decided to change the subject._

"_So, Al, what shall we name him this time?"_

_He smiled up at her. They had a tradition of naming their children after old companions of The Doctor. He thought for a moment, seeming to be struggling with some kind of internal battle._

"_List them, their names."_

_He took a deep breath._

"_Okay, ones we haven't already used… well there was Ian, but then I took his surname. That leaves us with… Gordon?"_

"_No," she said firmly. "Alastair was enough."_

"_Vislor," he laughed. "Nope, definitely not."_

"_He needs something special," mused Rose. "In case he does turn out to be a Time Lord. Vislor could work as a middle name."_

"_Adric? No," said Alastair, turning pale._

"_You said that last time. What happened to him? You didn't say."_

"_He died," said her husband quietly. Rose sighed._

"_Another option for a middle name. Any more ideas?"_

"_What about Jamie?"_

_Rose looked up. "Jamie? Who was he?"_

"_James Robert Mcrimmon. He was one of the best. Fiercely loyal, quick to learn, and so _brave_."_

"_James it is," she agreed. "So, the middle name?"_

"_Hmm," he said in mock thought. "Adric or Vislor? Which shall we torment him with?"_

_Rose laughed. "How about both?"_

_It was only now, ten years later, that Rose realised that they had managed to give him a name that was longer than he was. He was small and skinny, proportioned differently to the other children. Even as a baby his body was never childlike, even if he was the smallest one in the nursery. Alastair remained confident that he would grow; they just needed to give it time. The Time Lord biology would have affected his growth rate. He may have been ten, but right now, he could have passed for five. And yet, he always had such intelligence burning in his eyes, she shivered to look at them. Such an icy blue that they seemed to burn right down into your soul. _

_But in every assessment, in every school test, he scored no more than average._

**-DW-**

At two forty-five, Alastair Steven Chesterton clocked himself out of Torchwood HQ, and set off towards his youngest son's school. It was a warm summer afternoon, and his thoughts drifted forwards to September, when Jamie would be at secondary school with his siblings, and would be able to get the bus home… not that he minded the walk home with his son, it's just that sometimes ducking out in the middle of an alien chase doesn't always make you the most popular person in the office.

He reached the school just as the children were coming out, and hung back to wait for James to emerge. When he did, all hell broke loose.

Jamie burst out the gates like the hounds were chasing after him. Time seemed to slow down as he ran out into the road. There was a screech of tortured breaks. A dull thud as Jamie hit the bonnet, and went flying over the roof of the car.

"JAMIE!" he screamed, running. The traffic had ground to a halt, but his son was lying limp and lifeless on the ground. He knelt on the tarmac. "Jamie…"

"Dad," he moaned weakly back. A crowd had gathered now, all crying out. Somebody was yelling down the phone for an ambulance, but Alastair knew it was too late for that.

"Dad, it… it hurts."

"Sh," he whispered, tears running down his face. "Help is coming."

"Dad, I'm going to… oh, God."

The boy cried out in pain, as something orange flashed across his stomach. Alastair's eyes widened.

"No… it can't be! NO!"

"Get BACK Dad!"

He jerked backwards as Jamie leapt to his feet.

And then the golden, molten orange energy was flowing out of him, and people were running away, screaming.

His son was regenerating, and all he could do was watch.


	2. Chapter 2

**Reviews would be nice, and could prompt some cybernetic hugs! **

**Chapter 2 – Sins of the Father**

When the regeneration energy faded, Jamie bolted before Alastair could get a proper look at him. He forced his way through the people and vanished. Alastair tried to run after him, but it was hopeless. He could only hope that his son would run home. He dug his phone out of his pocket and rang Rose.

"Hello, Rose? Yes, it's me, look you need to get home _now_, it's an emergency."

She was waiting for him when he arrived, looking pale and nervous.

"Al? What is it? What's happened?"

Alastair sank into a chair. "It's Jamie, he was… he got hit by a car."

"What? Is he…" she sat down, white as a sheet. "Doctor… Al, is he dead?"

"He regenerated," he whispered miserably. Her eyes widened. "He regenerated, and then he ran off. I have no idea what he looks like, and now he's probably unconscious somewhere."

"Oh my God…"

"I'm hoping he will return home when he wakes up. If he does, we need to be prepared."

"Prepared for what?"

"Rose, he can't stay here."

"What do you mean?"

"He needs more help than I can give him. He needs to be able to grow up as a Time Lord, with a Time Lord."

"You can't mean… _him_? But he's our son!"

"I know Rose,"

"Al – Doctor, you can't seriously be considering this?"

"What's to consider? You know the rift's still active; we can find a way to send him through."

"But you know how risky that is! He could end up in deep space!"

"I think I can modify the system a bit. Rose, it could be his only chance."

"I don't want to send him away,"

"Nor do I, but we don't have much choice."

**-DW-**

_James was dreaming, he knew that much. If it wasn't the floating in mid-air bit that gave it away, it was that here his parents looked even younger here than they did in their wedding photographs. They were sprawled out on the grass, deep in conversation. His mother was sulking about something, but she had a mischievous look about her that made James realise it was just pretend._

"_What's wrong with 'Doctor'?" she asked petulantly. "I like it,"_

"_I'm not him," sighed his father. This was obviously an on-going disagreement. "I need to be my own person, so, new name."_

"_What about John Smith? That's what you usually use."_

"_Nah, too boring. Let me think…" he sank into his memories, picking them apart._

"_Going through your companions?" teased Rose. "Who was your best friend, back in the olden days?"_

"_Jamie and Alastair were probably the ones I knew longest. Probably Sergeant Benton too, but his name was John…"_

"_So, if you were to choose, Jamie or Alastair?"_

"_Um… Alastair," he admitted. "Jamie was… very special. I'm not sure I could live up to his name."_

"_So, Alastair. What was his surname?"_

"_Lethbridge-Stuart."_

_Rose laughed. "What a mouthful! What about the other one?"_

"_Mcrimmon? Too Scottish. This is England. So: Jackson? Heriot? Benton? Turlough? Chesterton…?"_

"_Chesterton?"_

"_Mm, Ian Chesterton, one of the first humans I travelled with."_

"_It's appropriate. Alastair Chesterton. I like it."_

_He grinned at her. She was right, he had found his name._

He jerked awake to find himself cold and wet, and it took a while to remember who and where he was. Once he had ascertained that he was _Jamie_ Chesterton, not his father, and that the alleyway he was in probably wasn't beneficial towards his general health, he struggled to his feet and wandered away in an attempt to make his way home. As he walked, he reached a number of conclusions.

His height was different. He was even smaller and skinnier than he had been before the… change, or whatever it was that had happened to him. His hair was now dark and hung in his eyes, and upon feeling his face he could tell that that had changed as well… he stopped himself mid-thought. He had to focus on getting home; otherwise he was going to panic.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he found a street he recognised, and began to head in the right direction, wobbling slightly. He wondered how long he had been unconscious, but before he could work it out he had reached the front door, and rang the doorbell unsteadily.

"Jamie?" asked a voice as the door swung open. James tried to focus on his mother's face, but his vision swam and he fainted.

**-DW-**

Alastair took the stethoscope away from his son's chest.

"It's definitely him," he said to Rose. "His hearts are beating slightly irregularly. Understandable, he's been under a lot of strain. He's sleeping; he should be alright for now."

"For now?"

"Rose," he said seriously. "We have to get him to The Doctor. We have no choice."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "No, it won't be safe."

"Rose, he will be in even more danger here. In this universe he is isolated; a Time Lord cannot survive alone."

"_He _managed," said Rose.

"_He_ was not growing, and besides, you saw the state I – he was in. I don't want Jamie to grow up like that."

His wife looked to the floor. Her resolve was weakening.

"D-dad?"

"Jamie!"

The small boy was stirring, his eyelids fluttering weakly.

"Dad… you're going to… send me… send me…"

"Sh, calm down."

Jamie blinked, sitting up slowly.

"What happened? I was hit by a car, then… I was burning."

"You regenerated," said Alastair gently.

"What?"

Patiently, Alastair began to explain about regeneration, what it did, the after affects, and the consequences. To his relief his son accepted all information readily and without question.

"Makes sense," he nodded in a remarkably mature manner. "I've known for a while that I wasn't quite human."

"What gave it away?" smiled Alastair, trying to lighten the mood. "The two hearts?"

"Two hearts," said Jamie glumly. "Lower core temperature, slower growth rate, practically non-existent pulse, latent telepathic and hypnosis abilities…"

"Hypnosis?" asked Rose. "You kept _that_ quiet."

"Not every Time Lord has the ability," said Alastair. "Those that do often don't realise they have the potential, sometimes it can stay buried for generations. For those that do manage to harness it…" he smiled grimly. "Well let's just say that sometimes the devastation was widespread, but I think I can trust you not to become a megalomaniac like The Master."

"The Master? Is he like me?"

"He was, but he's dead now. They all are. The Doctor's the only one left, apart from you."

"Do you mean Grandfather?"

Alastair and Rose stared in shock.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I have weird dreams," he mumbled. "I suppose another side effect of being a Time Lord is seeing the past, present and future at the same time."

"Err, yeah that about sums it up," said Alastair sheepishly.

"Do you think you can get me through the rift?"

"It's a possibility."

"I think I can make it work."

"Jamie…"

"Don't 'Jamie' me, mother! Dad's right, I have to find The Doctor."

She bowed her head in defeat.

"Okay."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to my reviewers.**

**zealousfreak27- who is Gary Stu? But I agree that Rose/Ten can be a bit cliché, but here it is necessary for the story, and in small doses it can be a good thing. The Turlough aspect will come into the next chapter.**

**Chapter 3 – Pre-Flight Checks**

Alastair frowned at the mass of wires on the workbench, and took another sip of his coffee. He had to admit that the 'project' wasn't going as smoothly as he had hoped. At the other end of the lab, Jamie looked up and grinned.

"Having problems, dad?" he asked cheekily. "I've managed to stabilise the software, but I'm still having trouble with the coordinates…"

"I thought we agreed that would be impossible."

"We did, but then I had a think, and realised that while we won't be able to lock the coordinates to a precise point, we can use it to focus on a certain area."

Alastair hurried to examine the circuits, raising his eyebrows.

"Impressive,"

"I know, right?"

"Now all we need is for your trans-dimensional theory to work, how are you getting on…?"

"No need to be so smug," he scowled. "Nothing like being shown up by my own son. Alright brainiac, where have I gone wrong?"

"There's an error in the second circuit, which disturbs the calculations."

Alastair peered at it. He was right.

**-DW-**

James trailed around the shop after his mother, looking gloomily around at the racks of clothes.

"Well this place is rubbish. I'm not trying to make a fashion statement, I need something inconspicuous!"

"Inconspicuous," muttered Rose. "Try telling that to your grandfather. You won't believe some of the outfits I saw in that wardrobe…"

"Now _this _is more like it."

"This is the school uniform section."

"Exactly. Inconspicuous."

He approached the shelves and grabbed a few grey trousers and V-necks, then dumped them in his basket with some white polo shirts.

"You need something a bit more substantial," said Rose.

"I've already got a black jacket; that was new only last month. I'm sure it will be fine."

"Jamie…"

"Relax mum! It's only a little inter-dimensional trip!"

"Very funny, young man. Now go and choose some new underpants."

**-DW-**

James sat on his room, tinkering with spare parts and bits of wire. He looked up when there was a soft knock on his door.

"Jamie? Can I come in?"

"What is it, Sarah?"

She edged in awkwardly, avoiding his eyes. She had been uncomfortable around him since his regeneration. He couldn't say he blamed her.

"Mum says dinner's ready,"

"Is that _it_?"

"Yeah, pretty much,"

Another uncomfortable silence. His life seemed to be full of them at the moment. He made no effort to move. However, instead of leaving she perched herself precariously on the edge of his bed.

"What are you building?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'm just fooling around."

"Are you really leaving?"

He nodded in confirmation. "As soon as we can get the tech working."

"Are you coming down for tea?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Mum made pizza…"

"I'm not hungry."

"Okay, let me rephrase this," she said. "_Dad_ told me to tell you that if you don't come down and share at least one meal with us this week, he'll put you back in school."

"What?"

"So, I'll go and tell him to start filling in those forms…"

"No, wait! I'm coming!"

**-DW-**

"Got it!"

Alastair sprinted over to where his son had leapt to his feet, the screen in front of him flashing and bleeping.

"You established a link?"

"Yep, right through the rift. We will have to go to Norway for me to get through, but there will be a planet aligned in position in six days, seven hours and approximately twelve minutes. The size of the landmass means we have a few minute's leeway, but no more. But _that_ isn't the best bit."

"Okay, amaze me."

"The _best _bit, is that I have managed to extend the link to collect data on the planet itself, and I have discovered that not only is the atmosphere breathable, but the gravity is almost identical to here. We seem to have struck gold."

"There's bad news, isn't there?" said Alastair, narrowing his eyes. "What's the problem?"

"I'm almost certain that it isn't parallel earth, and although I'm fairly sure that there is civilisation, I don't know how advanced they will be. I could spend the next hundred years living in a wooden hut, if I can persuade them not to serve me with chips."

"I'm sure the Doctor will find you in the nick of time."

"And if he doesn't?"

**-DW-**

"Jamie, wake up, we're here."

Rose shook her son's shoulder gently, keeping her eyes fixed on his face. It was starting to hit home that she would never see him again.

"Morning mum," he said sleepily. "Do I _have_ to go to school today?"

She chuckled in spite of herself. He was always disorientated when he awoke.

"Time to get up, sweetie, you need to help your father set up the equipment."

This woke him up and he leapt out his seat, swinging his canvas bag over his shoulder. Rose chuckled at his eager expression, and the way he darted off to set up the equipment. She was quite impressed by the way he took charge.

"No, not like _that_! That cable has to go in _that _slot, and then the USB…"

Rose tuned out all the technical talk, and gazed down the beach.

**-DW-**

_They had been back once for a family holiday. Rose and Alastair had been starting to tell their children about life in the parallel universe. For now they were just keeping it as storytelling, Sarah was only seven after all, and it was highly unlikely that any of them actually understood the importance of what they were saying. They had fun building sandcastles, and paddling in the (freezing cold) sea, but for some reason Jamie was jumpy. He kept fidgeting, and sending furtive glances at the sky. After their picnic came the familiar cry, this time from Ben._

"_Story! Story!"_

_Rose smiled and obliged._

"…_so Rose was left on the beach with her new Doctor. They all lived happily ever and the walls between the universes closed forever."_

"_Almost," mumbled Jamie. The whole family gasped. They had never heard Jamie speak before._

"_Sorry, sweetheart," said Rose in astonishment. "What did you say?"_

"_I said almost," he replied. "You got it wrong, the walls of the universe _almost_ closed."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Can't you see it?"_

"_See what?" asked Alastair in bewilderment. Jamie was being remarkably articulate for a three-year-old._

"_But surely you must be able to feel it! There is a rift running right down this beach, and the whole area is flooded with… with… I don't know the name. Some sort of time energy or void energy or something."_

_Four faces gaped at him, and Jamie went red in the face. No matter how much they badgered him, Jamie refused to speak again until months later._

**-DW-**

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…"

Alastair pressed a big red button (how cliché), and Jamie was gone. Rose missed a beat, then burst into tears.

That was it. He was gone, with no way of them knowing if he was safe.

And no way of getting him back.


End file.
